Petratos 'has to stay positive, even with the situation'

Dimi Petratos insists the struggling Newcastle Jets are remaining positive and upbeat despite a string of heavy defeats that has them sitting at the bottom of the A-League table.

The Jets were smashed 6-2 by Perth Glory and 4-0 by Melbourne City in their past two matches.

Newcastle have only won two of their nine matches so far this season and have just eight points, the same as Saturday's opponent Brisbane Roar.

But Petratos says despite the big losses the squad has kept its calm.

"Some games haven’t gone our way, obviously," the midfielder said.

"We’ve worked on it. We’ve kept our heads. We can’t wait to get on the pitch tomorrow and get the result. Of course there’s a good mood in the sheds. We have to stay positive, even how the situation is.

"I think the boys have a lot of confidence from training this week. We’ve done well, we’ve worked on a lot of things. Hopefully we do that in the game as well.

"We get a few results our way and things change. We have to focus on the game on the weekend and get the result. We have to stick to our structure and work hard."

The Jets have a good past record against the Roar at McDonald Jones Stadium.

"We’ve matched up well against them," Petratos admits.

"We’ll take any confidence that we can from any stat. [But] every team is difficult to play against."

Saturday's fixture will see the return of former Newcastle striker Roy O'Donovan.

Petratos knows the Irishman well and expects his team to be on high alert to contain the striker.

"We played together for two years so everybody knows him at the Jets," the Socceroo said.

"Obviously he’s a great player, a great striker. The boys have a job to do on him and I’m sure they will. He’s a guy who can pop up and score at any time."